suspension upgrades

[grantt8420]

I have a stock RS10 and am looking to do some suspension mods...lower COG...better shocks...ground clearance...any advise or recommendations on what would be beneficial?

[infodragon]

Go though MountainStorm's thread

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/redca...dless-mod.html

Tons of stuff including what you are looking for. It's a long thread but well worth it.

[jsowens]

Take a look around in some of the other forums, in particular the Berg, Bully, XR10, and AX10 sections, and look at some of the various comp builds. Those guys have suspension and performance dialed a lot of times and the same ideas can be brought to the RS10.

It goes a little farther than just putting on new shocks. You'll also want to play with different weights of shock oil, different spring rates, where the shocks are mounted, what angle, etc... Unfortunately, what works for me or someone else might not necessarily work for you and your driving style.

What helped me the most was to swap to a different chassis and some aluminum shocks that didn't leak. Then I just experimented. Start with buying a couple different weights of shock oil and try that out. The higher the weight the thicker the oil. Once you have a shock oil that you like, start moving the shocks around on the chassis, making one small change at a time, and see what you like. Then you can experiment with different spring weights and different shock pistons.

Ultimately what worked for me was a Hellstrom chassis, Duratrax Evader 4" shocks, white losi springs, 35wt oil, and my shocks were mounted at roughly a 45 degree angle from the chassis to the axle housing.

Here's my old build if you wanna have a look:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/redca...m-rebuild.html

[grantt8420]

What are your thoughts on getting this for my rs10....
Axial Wraith Stage 1 Aluminum Links Kit AX30797 | eBay

[jsowens]

Those would probably bolt up, but I wouldn't guarantee that your wheelbase will remain the same. I prefer to make my own links...you can make them whatever length you want, bend them or not, and they're tough as crap.

Anybody make their own links?

That might help.

[grantt8420]

Ok so I've decided I'm going forward with building my own links...will i need to do any mod to my stock rs10 shocks to use then with 1/4" tube links?..any shock recommendations?..can i starch out the rig a little bit or leave the wheel base stock?

[JCon]

wheelbase u can do what u want. if u want to be crawler I would stay around 11-12" shocks most anything will work. but traxxas bigbores are popular.

[jsowens]

If you stretch your wheelbase you might have to get creative with how to mount the shocks to the chassis...assuming you end up mounting the shocks to the axle also. If the shocks are using the sliding mount attached to the lower links I doubt you'll run into any problems unless the mount is just too big for the links. When I was running a RS10, I had the wheelbase set at 12.5" axle to axle and that worked well for me.

If you're going to build your own links, it'll be helpful to make a wheelbase jig as well. That'll help make sure everything is nice and square and that you get the wheelbase you're after. I used a pair of wooden paint stirring sticks with holes drilled in them 12.5" apart. You can use the axle nuts to make sure the axles stay in the jig.

RcBros Wheelbase Jig

[cabron]

I found that having the wheelbase between 13 and 13.5 inches let me climb up stairs easier
than if the base was less than 13 inches. if you get the chance, try it.
using all-thread to mock up the links is a good idea. lets you try different lengths and bends
and then you end up with a form to duplicate when you make the final ones.

1/4 aluminum with 1/8 opening will work well. you can tap the opening to 8-32 and use all-thread
and jato or revo rod ends.
also what works well is using 3/16 rod and cutting 10-32 or 10-24 threads. the traxxas jato or revo rod ends
were made for 4mm but work well with both 8-32 and 10-32. the jato ends are longer than the revo ends
but both work well. I prefer the jato .
TowerHobbies.com | Search Results


I made several sets of suspension and steering links out of tubing until I got brave enough to try cutting
threads on rods. imo rod links look better and it is a lot easier to bend rod than to bend tube without crimping it.

enjoy

[grantt8420]

Am i going to be measuring wheelbase at full droop r sitting on a level surface?...i have some thick aluminum wire that I'm going to use for mock up before i make the real ones.

[cabron]

for the competitions ...there is a maximum length. i believe it is 12.5 at it's longest extension

for fun it is whatever turns your crank and the terrain you will be driving on.
the longer the wheelbase the more likely it will be to get hung up on sharply breaking big rocks
the shorter the wheelbase the smaller the rocks or stairs you can easily climb over

you can also play with the ride heigth but the higher the ride the more easily it will roll over on side hilling
but the lower you go the more you will get hung up.

this is all part of the fun and it all has to do with the terrain you have at your disposal.

then you can work on the weight, specially the weight up front. looking at the builds in the bully and berg sections
you see amazing amount of weight and the videos show almost vertical climbs